


Lavender

by AstronomerAlways



Category: Recess (Cartoon)
Genre: But not really though, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Lavender Dating, Other, Underage Smoking, lavender marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 12:21:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29243493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstronomerAlways/pseuds/AstronomerAlways
Summary: There was only five months left until they could leave this place behind and start their new lives. TJ and Spinelli talking after prom.
Relationships: T. J. Detweiler/Ashley Spinelli
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	Lavender

The slow strobe lights and the final song playing had all the students lucky enough to find a date on the dance floor, holding their partners close as they danced, letting the world around them melted away as they focused on each other. The senior prom was fire and ice themed, cheesy, but that didn’t stop anyone from coming and enjoying the night.

In the middle of the crowded dance floor danced the school’s longest lasting couple Ashley Spinelli and TJ Detweiler. Having dated since middle school, they were the envy of many couples throughout the school for simply lasting as long as they have. But anyone who knew them since elementary would say it was inevitable; they were perfect for each other, and as they danced together, embraced and holding each other close, the truly looked to be.

But all good things had to come to an end, and the prom was no exception. Couples piled back into the cars they arrived in, very few went home, most of them drove away in search of privacy to spend even more time together. The cheap motels at the edge of town where the owners were willing to look the other way just to cash in on horny teenagers were the main go-to, TJ and Spinelli included.

Their room was on the very end of the row. The parking lot was filled with cars parked crookedly as the drivers rushed to get inside. TJ, having worked too hard to get his car, parked far enough away to avoid any of the other hitting it before he and Spinelli headed into their motel room.

ZZZ

The moment the door shut, the two of them sighed, releasing the tension that built up over the last few ups leading up to the prom. The room was musty with the faint smell of mildew, but it was more relaxing being here than it was anywhere else.

Spinelli reached up, freeing her long, inky black hair from the tight updo it was styled in, and tossed the clips aside, knowing she didn’t give enough of a damn to look for them again. TJ loosened his tie and tossed it aside in the same fashion.

“I’m tired, Teej,” Spinelli said. She pulled off the corsage on her wrist, giving no care to preserve the white flower.

“Yeah,” said TJ. He joined her on the bed after he took of his suit jacket. “Me too.”

“How much longer do we have left?”

“A little over two months before school ends,” he said. “About five months before college, I think,” he said. His shoes landed with a thud as he kicked them off. If it was up to him, he would’ve worn a pair of regular shoes, and Spinelli thought the same with her own shoes, even if they were just kitten heels.

Spinelli scratched at the top of her prom dress. The top was white with red accents. Whatever the fabric was, it itched, and she was eager to get it off. The skirt was red and flared, coming down to her knees, and it was the only thing she liked about it. It was far from her first choice; in a perfect world, she would have worn a suit.

“God, I can’t wait to leave this stupid fucking town and these stupid fucking people with their stupid fucking judgements,” Spinelli said.

“Did you already apply to your schools?” TJ asked.

“Yeah. I’m hoping to get into this one school up in New York. They’re a lot more openminded up there.” She chuckled, brushing her hair out of her face. “Gotta make up for lost time, you know?”

“I know. I hope you get in, Spin.”

“Thanks. What about you?” Spinelli asked.

TJ shrugged. By now, his blue button up shirt was on the floor, leaving him in the t-shirt he wore underneath. “I applied to few colleges over in California, so I guess we’re going to be on opposite ends of the country.”

“Sure you don’t want to come up to New York with me? California’s pretty close, New York is almost as far as you can get,” said Spinelli. “Maybe Hawaii is farther. . .”

“I thought about it, but I think that after all of this, we should spend some time apart,” he said. “It’s nothing personal, Spin, it’s just. . . “

“No, no. I get it, I do. Five years of putting on a façade with anyone, you’d want some time away from them. I know it’s not personal,” Spinelli said. “This whole thing as been suffocating for the both of us. Sometimes I just want to scream until my throat hurts.”

“Me too.”

The two of them laid back on the bed, with the only sound in the room being their breathing and the faint noise of a rocking bed in the next room. They were both expected to be home, but not for a while. The more time they spent away from their parents, the better.

“I saw this girl when my mom dragged me out to get makeup for tonight,” Spinelli said. “She had a goth look to her, dark makeup and clothes and all that. She was cute.”

“Did you get her number?” TJ teased. Spinelli lightly elbowed him.

“I wish. In a perfect world, maybe,” she said.

“Sorry. I’m sure there’s plenty of goth girls up in New York who’d love to date you,” he said.

“Geez, thanks.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m gonna cut my hair as soon as I get up there, I hate it this long.”

“Why haven’t you done it already?”

“Because I want it done right, and when I asked my mom for the money she said she wasn’t going to pay for her only daughter to ‘look like a dyke’, so that ended there,” she said. “I’d look good as hell with a pixie cut!”

“You would,” TJ agreed. He pulled out pack of cigarettes and lighter from his back pocket. “You have the right face shape and bone structure.”

“I know, right?! Ridiculous.” She took a cigarette and they smoked together. “What about you?”

“Hmm?”

“Still crushing on that guy at your job?”

“Oh, him. Nah, not anymore.” He let out a puff of smoke. “He said some homophobic shit about his younger brother. I guess he came out to his family? Guy came in pissed and raging, and anything I felt died right there. It wasn’t the normal type of stuff, either.”

“Asshole.”

“Yep. But guess who I’ve been talking to lately?”

“Who?”

“Robert,” he said. “He contacted me over Facebook. About a month ago. He’s going to school out in California.”

“Is that the real reason you want to go to a school out there?” She teased.

“It’s part of the reason. What can I say, he’s hot.”

“And you were crushing on him so hard two years ago,” said Spinelli. “Almost blew our cover.”

“Almost, but didn’t,” TJ said. “We covered our bases.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Spinelli up out her cigarette on the ashtray laying on the bedside table. “I’m not going to know anyone in New York, but it’s not going to feel any different than it does here. You think people around here’ll ever change?”

“. . .I wouldn’t hold my breath,” said TJ. Unlike, her, he was taking his time with his cigarette. “Not even for our friends.”

“I stopped calling them our friends years ago, Teej,” she sighed. “I stopped calling anyone besides you my friend. I can’t call people who I know actually hate part of me ‘friends’. It makes everything easier.”

He didn’t argue against that. In a way, she was right, and if it made things easier for her to deal with, TJ wasn’t going to question it. Hell, that was probably the smarter thing to do, rather than cling on to the idea that the others would change their minds one day. They both heard what they said, and knew what they thought, and it _hurt_. The first time and even now. Maybe it would hurt less if he mentality disconnected from them and cut his losses.

“I think we’ve been here long enough,” said TJ. “People saw us come in here, it’s probably okay to leave.”

“Yep. I’m ready to go. Tired of hearing other people fuck when I we can’t even look at someone we like without getting questioned,” Spinelli said. “You think any fast food places are still open this late? I could really go for a burger.”

“I don’t think so,” said TJ. He grabbed his shirt and jacket from the floor and put his shoes back on. “Fucking sucks, because I could use one, too.”

They climbed back into TJ’s car and headed back home, having another cigarette along the way. Five years of putting on a show for everyone to keep too perceptive eyes off of them. There was only a few more months left before they could leave this backwards time behind and start to make up for lost time. So close, but still so far away.

When they reached their street, TJ walked Spinelli to her door, keeping up the act. The light in the living room was still on, so her parents were probably waiting up for her, maybe even peaking through the blinds.

“I’ll call you tomorrow?” TJ asked.

“Text me instead, I can tell I’m going to wake up with a migraine,” said Spinelli. “’Night, Teej.”

“’Night, Spin.”

She headed inside and he went back to his car to bring it over to his house. It was the weekend, so maybe they could get a break from the constant act that made up theirs lives, but Monday always arrived, and they’d walk into school holding hands and continue the farce.


End file.
